May 31, 2010

Hamburg was great. We arrived late Friday afternoon and left early (11 a.m. isn’t exactly early I know, but it did feel like it was real early) Sunday morning. Summed up we spent our time on walking and walking, “flying”, eating, drinking, dancing and sleeping (approx 3 hours per night). The weather was superb, which made us feel incredibly lucky, as it was pouring down Friday morning and the entire Sunday. Already looking forward to my next visit.

The line-up for this year’s Indietracks looks intriguing as always, but unfortunately I won’t be going this year either, as I’ll be in Austria on holiday at that time. Would especially love to see (and hear) Clint of Play People, who’s going to play an acoustic set. Could be the only chance ever to hear the glorious pop songs of Play People being performed live, plus it should finally be revealed who’s hiding behind the alias!+ Going Out+ Oh What A Life...

Check out the solo project Devious Delight by Northern Portrait guitarist Jesper Bonde. It will be quite interesting to follow, if this evolves into something more serious or simply is the first indication of him (co-) writing future Northern Portrait songs.

May 20, 2010

One of the consequences of suddenly becoming all serious this week and write about that The Radio Dept concert and, what you could perhaps call, Oliver North Boy Choir gossip is that the mailbox has had perfect conditions for growing out of control. So now it’s high time to once again bring out the brooms and start sweeping.

"Old" favorites OMD will be touring Europe in November. Pretty sad to see that no Danish date is included especially since the original (or "classic") line-up is back together, because when I saw the band way back in 1993 it basically consisted of just Andy McCluskey.

May 19, 2010

A little more than a year ago we had to say farewell to Oliver North Boy Choir, but the band’s music is still around. Perhaps more than ever, as the trio’s delicate cover version of the JAMC track Teenage Lust is featured in an episode of American soap Gossip Girl. A part of the episode in question can be streamed right here (fast forward to 0:47 ) and please don’t start posting any bullshit about the quality of the dialogue and the acting. Just be happy that a great band (dead or alive) has gotten a chance like this to have their music heard by millions of TV viewers. And perhaps even earn a few greenbacks? At the Copenhagen Popfest I tried to convince Mikkel and Ivan to bring the band back to life (and EPO-555 as well, while I was at it – both bands are sorely missed), but I wouldn’t put money on either band reuniting any time soon (if ever) if I were you! A good handful of b-sides plus remixes and cover versions of various other tracks are still free to download from the band’s webpage.+ Tonight+ Baby Cool (Good Luck Casper remix)

Some pretty good stuff on this morning, so for a change there will be more than just one video.

Probably not offending anyone by saying that Danes Apollo have been listening a lot (I mean "A LOT") to The Killers?

No wonder I thought this band sounded like Mew! Shame on me for not immediately realizing that this one had to be by Apparatjik!

Every morning when the girls and I are having breakfast the radio is on, and from time to time it does happen that some really fine stuff is aired, thus helping to make the start of the day a good one. The “On the radio this morning” posts are my humble attempt to make your start a good one as well!

May 18, 2010

Ok. So I went to see The Radio Dept. perform at an (after all) sold out Lille Vega on Saturday evening. Not with the biggest of expectations, as I had read somewhere (here) that the band was a terrible live act. Though not exactly without expectations either, as the band has been number two on my list of artists I want to see (second only to Richard Hawley) for the past several years. But now, 3 days later, I’m still trying to absorb what I experienced, as I cannot make up my mind whether I should be disappointed or simply accept that we got exactly the performance we could realistically expect? During the 45-50 minutes (including sound checks in between songs) the band spent on stage they performed 12 songs and turned the whole place into an inferno of noise. The later I sincerely hope was a decision made by the band (rather than adding more fuel to the “terrible live act” debate) and something I can “live” with, although I (as one of the few) will forever prefer the more polished Pet Grief to the noisier Lesser Matters. However the fact that just 12 songs were performed made me rather dissatisfied at first; especially with just one track from Pet Grief being included in the set. But having checked setlists, bootlegs, blogs etc. afterwards, I’ve come to the understanding that no matter what you hope for; 50 minutes is what you usually get. So being critical is easy. Doing one’s homework is sometimes a tad more difficult. But had I done it properly, I probably would have known just a little bit better what to expect! One final remark; despite its many omissions I cannot think of any songs I wish hadn’t been included in the setlist, which I (after all) see as the perfect proof of what a truly remarkable band this is!+ David+ Freddie and the trojan horse+ Why won't you talk about it?

May 14, 2010

What has been a really great day started in the perhaps best possible way, when I found epic new track Gold by The Boombox Hearts in the mailbox this morning. Completely new to me it wasn’t, as I had heard it once before, when they played their debut concert at Copenhagen Popfest (pic), and I do remember thinking back then; “wow this is great”. And having heard the studio version I’m still thinking exactly the same, though using something more superlative than “great” is tempting. I’m having some difficulties catching the lyrics, but according to the band the song is a wee bit sad and dominated as it is by the twang guitar sound (reminiscing Chris Isaak) as well as getting support from a beautiful cello, it does indeed have a melancholic feel to it. Gold is the first appetizer from a 5-track EP that is said to be in the making and which hopefully will be out some time later this year.+ Gold

Sweden's Irene shares a brand new demo track named The Catcher in the Rye. Found via the twitter account of Acid House Kings, so cannot really tell if it's a sign of more things to come! Hmmm - more information (in Swedish) and download link can be found here.

Excellent Scottish trio Airspiel has a new single (and video) out named The Rain. Uptempo, danceable, very 80's inspired ("electro indie pop song with a "retro-futuristic" feel. (Gary Numan, The Human League etc.)") and really, really catchy (damn good it is). Available oniTunes et al.

Come to think of it, I’m somewhat surprised that I don’t get contacted more often by bands via Last.fm, as this service should give bands (and others) a pretty good idea of the chances of me liking their music. That's probably why US shoegazers The Band in Heaven decided to send me a mail suggesting that I should give their music a listen. So I did and I quite like it. Especially this Cranberries cover is pretty good. More songs are free to download from bandcamp.+ Dreams (Cranberries Cover)

May 11, 2010

Every morning when the girls and I are having breakfast the radio is on, and from time to time it does happen that some really fine stuff is aired, thus helping to make the start of the day a good one. The “On the radio this morning” posts are my humble attempt to make your start a good one as well!

May 10, 2010

Friday I was joking (and being a little bit serious as well) about posting a list of “the worst songs from the mailbox”. But having given it serious considerations this weekend I’ve come to the conclusion that it just ain’t going to happen. After all, who am I to ridicule musicians or artists in general? You see! I have no talent for writing music, know absolutely nothing about recording it and cannot even play an instrument (failed miserably when trying to learn to play the piano 30 years ago). Instead shouldn’t my approach always be that even though I don’t like the music, I should at least look at their skills with some envy? Or let’s turn it around! Would I enjoy seeing one my blogposts (or the blog in its entirety) listed among “the worst stuff found on the internet”? It probably wouldn’t be quite unreasonable, but still? Though I promise that nothing will change in the sense that I will continue my whining (when given the opportunity) about all the bad stuff I receive. But I’m definitely not going to put anyone in the pillory!

So let’s move on to some music instead (some good stuff of course!)…

Irish indie rock 5-piece Elspeth has mailed a new track named Mob Journalism. More electronic less rock! Puzzled about Roy Keane being listed among the influences? He’s Irish I know, but…?+ Mob Journalism

The debut album We Are… by London trio Cha-Cha is released today. I’ve previously praised first single The Fellowship for being a “seriously infectious pop song”, and though the rest of the album never quite reaches the same glorious heights, it’s still a highly enjoyable affair!+ The Fellowship

Check my Last.fm profile and you’ll see that The Bailing by Inu is my “top track” of the past 6 months. So obviously I was pretty excited to find the band’s forthcoming debut album (to be released June 29) Not For Anyone in the mailbox this morning. Am tempted to cite myself and use parts of the above sentence; “though the rest of the album never quite reaches the same glorious heights, it’s still a highly enjoyable affair”.+ The Bailing

May 7, 2010

As I wrote two days ago, words are really hard to find these days. So forgive me for not be able to resist the temptation to take the easy way out and post yet another mailbox compilation. As always reading and listening have been everything from uplifting to mindboggling (in the not so positive sense of the word). At one point I was even contemplating compiling a post named “the worst from the mailbox”. Cross your fingers that it will never materialize, as it will provoke nightmares, cause your blood pressure to rise, make you regret ALL your sins and plenty of other horrid things. But for now, I’ll just stick to the old formula and post the good (or better at least) stuff.

+ The Happy Hippo Family – Undressed MelodyConfident (but terribly named) Swedish band calls themselves “Sweden’s best band, but more people need to realize this”. Cannot say that I agree about that best band statement, but I do agree that more people need to realize that this is infact a pretty good band!

+ Thee Piatcions - Time (Extended version)Italian quartet finds inspiration in psych rock of the 60'es and the alternative rock scene of the early 90'es and blends it all together nicely to create a (if not unique then at least) very intriguing sound.

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All words in this blog are written by me. It’s a blog about music. A music blog! About music that I like and artists I care for. Things have to be relevant to me. Not necessarily to anyone else. I’m Danish. I live in Denmark. I write at a lot about Danish music. And a lot about foreign music as well. Artists and labels not afraid of sharing music are the coolest. In the past I’ve been getting invaluable recommendations from José Antonio (J.A.) and Rodolfo; and still do! Big thanks to Steven of Letters Have No Arms! for designing the previous banner! Thanks to Ryan of Rikers for creating the current one! Songs for download are sometimes uploaded by me. But only when I have received permission from the artists/labels OR the songs are legally available for free elsewhere.